The Stolen Life of Sandra Bland - Chris "Preach" Smith

Photo Credit: Heavy.com

“The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common
forces of nature at the same time she is caught in the tripartite crossfire
of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power.”

- Dr. Maya Angelou

These days, it feels as if the United States of America has actively 
engaged in nostalgia of the hateful kind. The kind that feasts upon
the bodies of Black men, women and children openly among other
in various forms and in addition to others of color.  It is a weary 
nostalgia, a tremulous feeling that nestles at the pit of the stomach.
In the past three years, we’ve seen a startling rise in the amount
of stolen lives. “Stolen lives” being the term used to describe those
Black victims who die at the hands of law enforcement with little to
no provocation. Sandra Bland, a 28-year old woman is the latest
of these to capture national attention - but not without the help
of activists and other concerned citizens to spread the word and
insist on her story being brought to light via social media. As is the
case these days, the mainstream media networks began to cover
the story of her arrest and her death in a Hempstead, Texas jail
cell. As this article is being written, the district attorney has ruled
that Bland died as a result of “suicide by hanging”. This determination
falls in line with the background information ferreted out by the
networks that she had been suicidal in the past after a miscarriage
and her own admission of brushes with PTSD, or post-traumatic
stress disorder. There was even mention of her having a series of
slashes on her arms that would lead one to believe she practiced
“cutting”, a method of self-harm. But as Sandra’s family is preparing
to lay her to rest, there are still many unanswered questions which
will not go away. And much like the other instances that have become
almost hourly in this country, the people want answers. Answers
which quite possibly have their origins in decades past.


“In prisons, it is not at all uncommon to find a prisoner
hanged or burned to death in his cell. No matter how 
suspicious the circumstances, these deaths are always
ruled ‘suicides’. They are usually Black inmates, considered
to be a ‘threat’ to the orderly running of the prison.’ They
are usually among the most politically aware and socially
conscious inmates in the prison.”

- Assata Shakur

There is the growing thought that is becoming more widespread by
the hour that Ms.Bland was murdered and her suicide staged. And 
before you sweep this aside, look at the inconsistencies that have
come to light. You have to go back to when Ms. Bland was arrested
by Officer Brian Encinia. The dashcam video, with its suspicious air
(compelling many including famed director Ava Duvernay to state
that the video was edited). Encinia’s hostile, aggressive nature which
came into heavy play as Sandra Bland verbally defended herself and
her rights even as he opened her car door. Encinia not answering
Ms. Bland’s repeated inquiries - 14 of them - as to why she was
being arrested. Officer Enicnia getting her out of the car, taking her down
and in the process, injuring Ms. Bland’s head. Threatening to even
detain a passerby who was trying to film the situation, which was within
their right to do so. The suspicion grows as Bland is detained, and
is fairly calm during her stay in the cell as viewed on closed-circuit
camera in the jail with the glaring exception of a hefty chunk of time
missing. Then the method - hanging herself with garbage bags that
aren’t even sturdy enough by fellow prisoners’ admissions and not
even supposed to be used in her cell? And the mugshot - at first
glance, you wouldn’t suspect anything. But in comparison to others
taken in that same jail, the major red flag is the orange jumpsuit
she’s dressed in. The positioning of her shoulders. Even the background
of the photo which is darker in comparison to other mugshots taken
of prisoners in that jail. The medical examiner and the county have
also confessed to the family that they made errors in the first autopsy.
These inconsistencies loom larger than the parade of allusions and data
now being released to the networks - data which includes the claim of
her ingesting a  “large quantity of cannabis” which would also make her
a remarkable jailhouse magician in addition to being highly suicidal given
that their claim is that she either ate or smoked it - and these inconsistencies
cannot be ignored. Not when the prosecutor for the area, and the chief of
police in Hempstead have been alleged to support racist beliefs and practices. 

Which brings me to a point that might not be discussed heavily in this
case. One which has to be fully addressed. Officer Encinia obviously
arrested Ms. Bland because he felt she was “uppity”. “Uppity” being
that whistle that invokes the piggish behavior of white supremacy.
That historical significance I referred to earlier? In a recent report by
the Equal Justice Initiative entitled “Lynching in America: Confronting
the Legacy of Racial Terror”, it was determined that between 1877
and 1950, there were 4,000 lynchings recorded that took the lives
of Black men, women and children. It was also estimated that of this
figure, twenty percent happened because of trangressions of a social
manner - in one case just for simply going to the wrong door. These
lynchings were enforced by mobs with the consent of local officials and
groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the White Citizens Council. We’ve 
seen a great deal of stories since 2008 of certain law enforcement
officials making overly racist statements and even being outed as
full-blown Klan members. In a climate such as this, you can imagine
how many of these ill-minded individuals occupy the ranks of police
departments throughout the country. And it’s not only confined to
the South. I recently had a friend relate to me that one of her
acquaintances, whose husband works with the NYPD, referred to
Black people as “hats”. Why? “Because hats are useless.” As much
as some will still try to deny it, there is a heightened level of racist
attitudes that are systemically embedded within law enforcement
departments in this nation and an overall sense of irritation towards
people of color by that cross-section of white people that has been
rising steadily since 2008. Wonder what took place then?

Let’s also consider that another young woman, Kendra Chapman,
died in an Alabama jail cell and was also ruled a suicide. In a climate
where Black and Brown lives in police custody are extinguished by
methods that would even give David Copperfield some pause, you
would be kidding yourself if you didn’t have questions. And that is
what we have here with Sandra Bland. It was no secret that she
was involved in the Black Lives Matter movement. She was very
vocal and strident for the cause. And we have seen that those who
fight for the people in that manner have been targeted by law enforcement
at protests. She had a bail of $5,000. For allegedly failing to signal a
lane change. A minor traffic offense that most places would write you
up or give you a warning for. That’s what Encinia tried to get her for.
Let me make one thing clear: I don’t want to hear that her ‘attitude’ is
what led to her arrest. Not when Encinia is clearly being outwardly
combative. Not when you combine that with his speeding up to catch her
at a red light. Not when you combine that with his attacking her. And if
he didn’t do anything wrong why was he immediately placed on desk duty
afterwards? Also, how many stories have we seen where white individuals
have violently attacked police officers and walked away to tell the tale? She
was pissed. She was inquisitive in her indignation. But she did not deserve
to die for it.

The death of Sandra Bland should give many Americans pause. Of course,
there will be the naysayers. Those who want to dismiss her death as if
she was C.J. Memphis in the play “A Soldier’s Story”. But like the demise
of that character, she was driven to her death. Could she have been dealing
with depression? Of course - the affliction has some visible symptoms but
also can’t be easily detected depending on the individual. But a woman who
drove from Illinois to Texas to see about a job offer, who’s family described
her as vibrant, who told her mother that she planned to go to Texas to also
get justice for all the Black people there - to drastically die like that in a jail cell?
Something isn’t right. And until the Justice Department gets involved, people
shouldn’t rest. They should continue to say her name, as well as the names
of all the other Black women and men and children lost to police brutality. She
did that for those before her. Sandra Bland fought for those stolen lives to get
justice before hers was lost. Her death should, if it hasn’t already, hammered
home just how broken the system is in this nation and just how much inequality
and death we have regarded as ‘normal.’